I am moving to be with my family in Miami soon. i would like to know how to travel with my 3 cats from the ?

coast of Virginia, to Miami, Florida, WITH MY 3 CATS ( MY BABIES)..... do i have to have a vet dope them up, so they will not get sick.. you see i'm driving with all my belongings. do i have to check on them regularly, and how often?.. i don't know what too do and i can't afford to fly.....someone out there please help !!!!.....THE TRIP WILL TAKE 24 HOURS.
show i put them in the back of the uhual or the car?????
my cats will be crying the whole time, is their a solution?????????...they cry when i take them to the vet 5 minutes away.

Absolutely do not tranquilize your cats. They need to be alert, or they could be thrown around inside your carriers and be hurt. With all the rules and fees by airlines, it would be prohibitive to send them by plane. Start out by driving around with them for increasingly longer times, so they get used to being in the car. I realize with $4 gas, that might have to be truncated.

I have posted several links that should give you some tips that will help.

Spraying the inside of the carriers with Feliway may help, as well as rescue remedy in the water.

you should stop about every 8 hours and give them food and water, let me use the litter box as well or if you have a large cage, then keep them in there with a litter box and food and water, when traveling you can put a sponge in a water bowl and fill it, this will help with spilling and still allow the to have a drink if they need it

i would talk to the vet. you need to get a copy of the medical records for the new vet anyway. vet should be able to give sedatives.

then, get a cage , or carrier big enough for the cats food, water and litter box. animal cage is probably best, like for a ferret. strap them down like any other cargo. make sure they can get fresh air, or AC, depending on temp.

Oh travelling with cats :P I know how that is! Although I haven't travelled with that many, I know what its like! We even travelled 24 hours with my cat. So you need 3 crates lined with old blankets, one for each cat. Make sure they're safely in the back of the car, perhaps two crates at the back and one at the front. Unless you're travelling with other people, they can hold the crates on them. keep the litterbox in the drunk, or even in the back of the car under one of the cats crates, and stop every couple of hours (or whenever you can make a stop, to stretch your legs, etc) and let your cats out one at a time IN THE CAR so they dont run away to see if they need to use the litter box. if one doesnt need to use it, or is too scared, put it back in the crate. then try the other, etc. some cats can hold their pee & poo in for a very long time... at least mine did! right when i let her out at our destination she peed and peed and peed on an inflatable bed LOL anyway I'm getting off track here. Make sure to have wet food out instead of dry food, because it provides them with both water and food so you don't have to mess around with kibbles and water. if theyre good with leashes and harnesses you can let them go outside, or let them roam around the car if they need to stretch their legs. i had to keep mine in her crate cause whenever i took her outside on her harness she ran under the car and i had to haul her out and she was covered in dirt and rocks and i felt bad for dragging her on the gravel :( believe me, you don't want your cat doing that. once she even slipped out her harness! so be careful. another good idea is to lock the cats in a room with their food water and litterbox until you're ready to leave. that'll give them the time to eat/drink their fill, and use the litterbox before leaving.

good luck, have fun, and i wish you all the best :)

My husband and I just moved our 2 cats from Wisconsin to Arizona. It took us 4 days, stopped each night at a hotel. We also towed my car behind the moving truck. What we did was keep the windows down in the car and had a large dog kennel in the backseat, with both cats in it. There was only one accident at the very beginning. We got pet friendly hotels and brought in the litter box and food etc. they adapted quite well. We also stopped every 3 hours or so to make sure they were okay and had water.